The present invention relates to a wiping device, particularly for cleaning windows and the like.
Many wiping devices are already known, and they are used, among others, also for cleaning window panes, windshields and in similar applications. Usually, such devices include a handle, a mounting member detachably mounted on the handle and having the shape of a profiled rail, and a wiping blade of rubber or similar elastically yieldable material mounted in the mounting member and having a longitudinal marginal portion which extends to the exterior of the mounting member. The wiping blade is usually replaceably supported in the mounting member, so that it can be replaced after becoming worn out, thus avoiding the otherwise existing need for discarding the entire wiping device.
So, for instance, there is already known a wiping device in which the profiled rail which serves as the mounting member for the wiping blade has a formation in the bottom region thereof which is approximately circular in cross-section. The wiper blade which cooperates with this mounting member then has a corresponding bulge at the longitudinal marginal portion thereof which is to be received in the formation. In this conventional device, the profiled rail is of one piece, and the marginal portion which has the bulge is introduced into the formation or cavity in the mounting member through one of the longitudinal ends of the mounting member. Similarly, the worn-out blade can be removed from the mounting member through such longitudinal end to be replaced by a new wiping blade.
However, this conventional device is disadvantageous, in that only that marginal portion of the wiper blade which extends to the exterior of the mounting member can be provided with a front and a rear wiping edge, so that only this marginal portion of the wiper blade can be used for the wiping operation. The other longitudinal marginal portion, as already mentioned before, is already provided with the bulge which cannot be used for wiping purposes. Thus, when both of the above-mentioned wiping edges are worn out, the wiper blade becomes useless and must be discarded. This, of course, results in a relatively high expenditure of material needed for the manufacture of the wiper blade.